WEST NYACK — Candidates for the 17th Congressional District squared off Sunday afternoon at a political forum held at Rockland’s Jewish Community Center.

Democratic Rep. Nita Lowey cast herself as a seasoned lawmaker and highlighted their differences on the proper role of the government in health care while Republican challenger Joe Carvin railed against the federal budget deficit and declared political independence.

Lowey, seeking a 13th term in the House of Representatives, repeatedly tried to link Carvin to the Medicare policies of GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan that would shift future retirees to private insurance in 2023.

“I think it’s essential to make sure we eliminate the waste and keep Medicare solvent,” she said. “My opponent wants to turn Medicare into a voucher.”

Carvin, a businessman and the supervisor of Rye town, argued that Lowey’s record on entitlements and spending had hurt jobs and driven up the deficit. He calculated the long-term costs of entitlement programs at $6 trillion.

“Over the past 24 years, she’s put on us a reckless path of spending that destroys jobs and puts our nation at risk,” Carvin said.

The debate, co-sponsored by Rockland’s Chapter of AARP, the League of Women Voters and a half-dozen other civic organizations, was lively as candidates took the stage for 50 minutes to answer questions submitted by the audience of about 120 people.

The newly redrawn 17th Congressional District includes all of Rockland County and parts of northern and western Westchester County.

Some of the sharpest exchanges came over the Affordable Health Care act, which includes reductions in Medicare spending of $700 billion over 10 years, mostly from health-care providers.

The budget plan Paul Ryan wrote included the same cut.

Both Lowey and Carvin charged the other would gut the popular government program serving 50 million seniors and disabled people — attacks that have emerged as a key issue in the presidential race.

During their answers to questions from audience members, Lowey and Carvin repeatedly differed on solutions that might end partisan gridlock.

Carvin, for example, criticized President Barack Obama for passing health-care reform without Republican support and for never fully backing the deficit-cutting plan known as Simpson-Bowles, which calls for about $3 in spending cuts for every $1 in new revenue.

“None of the fundamental reforms we need will be able to be solved unless we reach across the aisle,” he said. “I voted for President Obama in the last election. I thought he was a post-partisan problem solver.”

Lowey countered by saying she frequently worked alongside Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, and that while Simpson-Bowles was a “fine document,” it would limit tax breaks for mortgages and charitable contributions.

“This is tough for New York,” she said.

Sharing the stage was Frank Morganthaler, a Hawthorne resident who lost a write-in challenge to Carvin in the Republican primary and is now running on an independent line on the November ballot called We the People.

“I’m an independent candidate,” he said in a closing statement. “I’m not controlled by any party. I’m controlled by you.”

Sunday’s forum also drew candidates running for state legislative seats in the 96th and 97th Assembly districts as well as the 38th and 39th Senate districts.